Hoodwinked Part 2 of 4
Danger Will Robison, Danger
With the Bland Shire having the vision of “People, Pride, Progress”, I wonder how many people are aware of the number of dangerous goods and chemical trucks will be travelling through the West Wyalong area heading towards the mine-site. From West Wyalong the trucks will then precede onto Wamboyne Road diverting pass Billy’s Lookout just prior to Bow Clear. .
Considering the large number and amounts of chemicals required by Barrick Gold are the Bland Shire residents fully aware of health and safety concerns. Bill Shevey, Mine Site Manager in the West Wyalong Advocate on the 19th commented, ”large vehicles are constantly travelling the route to the mine site so in general, the community needs to be prepared for the increased volumes and the associated dangers.” So how many trucks will be travelling this route? The number of trucks equates to approximately 900 per year or around 17 trucks per week. This figure does not include the 15 million litres of diesel and 20tons of primers/ detonators per annum that will also be required. So what and where will these chemicals be used?
The method of extraction the gold from the ore that Barrick is planning on using is known as Carbon In Leach (CIL) cyanide circuit. This technology has been chosen as it is proven and a known technology, which will enable Barrick to extract 99% of all gold from the ore, including microscopic flakes. Great Barrick has an effective means to extract the gold, Carbon-In Leach Cyanide Circuit.
The CIL process requires a large quantity of varying chemicals to enable the entire process to occur from extraction to the tailing dams. The following list is some of the chemicals used during this entire process: Sodium Cyanide, Hydrochloric Acid, Caustic Soda, LPG, Ammonium Nitrate, Hydrogen Peroxide and Sulfuric Acid. The last two chemicals are used by Barrick to ensure cyanide levels in the tailings dams remain within the regulatory level of below 20 mg/l 90% of the time. Approximately 1500 and 10000 tonnes per annum respectively of each chemical will be added to the tailings sludge
The cyanide will be travelling 1600 km from Gladstone though to Lake Cowal. Within the EIS there is no definite or defined route to the Bland Shire.
The amount of cyanide that will be required to extract is approximately 31,600 tonnes throughout the life of this pit. This usage comes from the EIS figures assumed to extract the gold. The EIS states that oxide ore requires 0.8kg of cyanide per tonne of ore to extract the gold, while the primary ore will consume 0.3kg per tonne of ore to extract the gold. Th above consumption figures where prior to Barrick reducing the grade of gold to its current level of 0.038 ounces per tons or approximately 1.2grams per tonne of ore. This reduction was mentioned in 2002 Annual Report due to further exploration being carried out.
Barrick within the EIS believes that only the Australian Code for Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail is required to be followed, however the EIS makes no comment about the need to follow the Department of Environmental and Heritage Cyanide management plan. Within this document there is a section called Cyanide: Health and Hygiene in the Workplace. Section 3.3 states the following ‘the selection of the transport route should be undertaken in consultation with regulatory and local authorities and involve community consultation’. Do you want this chemical close to your house, farm or crops Where you truly informed as citizens, to the route this dangerous chemical will take?
It continues ’the consultation should advise on identified risks and describe arrangements for driver fatigue management, auditing, incident reporting, emergency response, emergency exercises
Are the emergency services trained or planning on being trained to handle an accident if one does unfortunately occur? The selection of the route should involve consultation with other communities that this chemical is planning on being transporting through so they too can prepare incase of an accident occurring. You can not say it will not happen here as there have been a number of spills locally and worldwide to support the need to be informed.
The following are some recent accidents that have occurred.
Tolukuma Gold Mine spill in Puapa New Gunine 2000 where 1 tonne of sodium cyanide pellets were dropped all be it from a helicopter, but this shows the lengths that mines will undertake to ensure the mining process continues. Closer to home in March 2002 a discovery of 400L of cyanide on the Tonami Highway N.T, killing approximately 500 birds
It is not just concerns about transportation that need to be addressed when considering the use of the above mentioned chemicals and dangerous goods at any site but the threat of terrorism Considering the recent world events, terrorism is a real threat and should be a concern to us all Throughout the World there have been numerous reports of cyanide being used by Al Queda as a potential chemical weapon, couple with the explosive material that will be used makes this site a real candy store for such activities.
Nov 17 2002- 2 men in London were arrested for plotting a terrorist attack using cyanide on the rail system known as ‘The Tube’ British Home Secretary gave a warning that Al Queda might be ready to use a so called dirty bomb or some kind of poisonous gas.
February 2002- Italian police arrested 4 people in possession of large quantities 10 pounds of cyanide and maps of Rome highlighting the US Embassy and the city’s water supply.
Dec 8 2001 Kandahar- Anti-Taliban fighters discovered low-grade uranium, cyanide and other poisonous chemicals in an underground Al Queda storage facility
So as you go and vote for local council elections do you really think that your local council has took you the truth? They cannot get the “People” part right in the vision, so how can have Pride or Progress if you have no People.
Come and visit the Embassy at Lake Cowal, where people care about people.